More than half of organisations believe talent scarcity is one of the biggest issues affecting their organisation, according to an HRreview poll.
The results were revealed at our last webinar, where we discussed talent scarcity and what to do about it.
Our guest, Alistair Dornan, is from Gallagher, which is an insurance consulting firm. He said that in order to ensure our companies have the best talent, “we need to think deeply about employee experiences”.
This, he said, relates to everything from how employees feel about line managers to their digital experiences in a company.
“Remote working is here to stay, so we need to catch up and ensure our employees’ digital experiences are good. It’s about having kit that works and is easy for people to use”, said Alistair.
In a report on organisational culture, Gallagher found the health and wellbeing of employees is now one of the highest priorities for most businesses. This is as a direct result of the lessons learned since the first lockdown.
In a previous article on our site, we reported that people are more likely to stay with a company that they felt had a good corporate culture. For example, companies that invested in diversity, sustainability and wellbeing.
This has been bolstered by the Gallagher report. It has also found that 45 percent of organisations have been developing environmental or sustainable policies to retain staff.
“To attract, engage, reward and retain top talent, employers will need to prioritise their people-investment. And it’s not just a great salary or a super benefits package. It’s everything an employer does to create an overall experience that helps their people bring their best selves to work every day.”
– Nick Burns, Chief Executive Officer of Gallagher’s Employee Benefits Consulting Division, U.K.
According to Alistair on our webinar, the three issues where there were gaps during pandemic are as follows:
- Communications – this had to change toward staff, and come from senior management as well as line managers.
- Cultural Dynamic – More organisations realised they had to increase their health and wellbeing offering to employees instead of offering benefits like travel insurance and shopping vouchers.
- Leadership – leaders were challenged at every aspect of the pandemic
He urged employers to “be consistent in how you look after staff and put in place good systems to manage employee wellbeing.”
In the Gallagher report, more than 76 percent of companies said they offered Employee Assistance Programmes, which catered to health and wellbeing. Meanwhile, in a poll during the webinar, more than 85 percent of respondents told us they could be doing more for employee wellbeing.
Alistair’s advice to companies is to create and implement a stress and wellbeing policy. He said: “So many businesses are opening themselves to risk by not having a wellbeing and stress management policy and training line managers”
We would love to see you at our next webinar. It’s on Wednesday, Dec 15th at 1400.
We want to learn more about your organisation. You can sign up for free here.
Feyaza Khan has been a journalist for more than 20 years in print and broadcast. Her special interests include neurodiversity in the workplace, tech, diversity, trauma and wellbeing.
